The present invention is directed to an electrical contact for termination to an electrical conductor, and, more particularly, the invention relates to an electrical contact having a generally planar terminal element which is designed for piercing insulation disposed about the conductor, generally perpendicular to the axis of the conductor.
Crimp-type electrical contacts are well known in the art and have been developed for termination with electrical conductors without the need of solder or other fastening means. One form of crimp contact constitutes a ferrule-type of crimp wherein the crimping means encircles the conductor along the axis thereof, with the active element of the contact extending in the same plane as the axis of the conductor, and with the crimping means clamped directly onto the conductive portion of the conductor. One disadvantage attendant to such a crimp contact is that upon repeated engagement of the active element of the contact with a compatible contact, the crimp termination may tend to loosen, thus impairing or breaking the circuit intended to be achieved thereby. Moreover, such contacts generally require a crimping tool having an anvil portion to appropriately grasp and support the contact, in which event such contacts must be preassembled to the conductor by the tool prior to mounting in a connector housing.
Another form of crimp-type electrical contact includes insulation piercing arms or fingers which are driven through the insulation about the conductor to establish electrical contact with the internal conductive portion of the conductor. Most often, a tool is required to deform the insulation piercing arms or legs of the contact to drive the arms through the insulation. The problem with such crimping contacts or techniques is that there always is the possibility that the insulation piercing arms or fingers will be driven by excessive forces not only through the insulation about the conductor, but into the electrical conductive portion of the conductor damaging the conductive portion or interfering with the electrical path therethrough.
It has been proposed to terminate an insulated conductor to an electrical contact simply by driving the conductor between stationary insulation piercing arms of the contact without actually deforming the arms themselves, as with crimping. However, a problem with such techniques is that the piercing forces of the arms increase considerably as the conductor is moved into the slot therebetween and, again, the piercing arms or fingers are prone to cut too deeply into the conductor. In addition, with repeated use of the contact, the varying and sometimes excessive forces utilized in opening and closing the arms results in a "set" in the arms whereupon the arms lose their resiliency.
The present invention is directed to providing an electrical contact which is designed to overcome the above specific and other problems involved with such electrical contacts heretofore known in the art.